Mountainview

When I arrived at the Mountain View Elementary school today, I never imagined it would be my most challenging day yet. Stephanie was indeed a very special young girl, but in more ways than one. Stephanie’s teacher had informed me that the little girl was diagnosed with a learning disability, and although she was in the 3rd grade, she worked on a kindergarten level.

My task for the day was helping Stephanie with two digit subtraction. I tried every way imaginable to get this child to understand, but there was no success. As frustration set in for both of us, I suggested we sit back, take a deep breath and start over. I pondered for a moment and then it clicked. I had remembered the strategy that my teacher used to get me to understand when I was in the third grade. Make a number line! At this point I felt anything was worth a try.

The first step was to find a quieter spot without all the classroom distractions. The rest was like magic. Even though she needed to use the number line that we made together, by the end of the day Stephanie was subtracting